The present invention generally relates to power generation systems, and more particularly, to a method and system employing a lead-unity-lag power factor operation of a power generation system for a DC power bus.
Power generation systems (PGS) play a significant role in the modern aerospace/military industry. This is particularly true in the area of more electric architecture (MEA) for aircraft, spacecraft, and electric hybrid technology in military ground vehicles. The commercial aircraft business is moving toward MEA having no bleed-air environmental control systems (ECS), variable-frequency (VF) power distribution systems, and electrical actuation. A typical example is the Boeing 787 platform. In the future, next-generation commercial aircraft may use MEA. Some military aircraft already utilize MEA for primary and secondary flight controls among other functions. Future space vehicles may require electric power generation systems for thrust vector and flight control actuation. Military ground vehicles have migrated toward hybrid electric technology, where the main propulsion is performed by electric drives. Therefore, substantial demand for increased power generation in that area has emerged. These systems should be more robust and offer greatly reduced operating costs and safety compared to the existing Space Shuttle power systems.
These new aerospace and military trends have significantly increased electrical power generation needs. The overall result has been a significant increase in the challenges to accommodate electrical equipment to the new platforms. This has led to increased operating voltages and efforts to reduce system losses, weight, and volume. A new set of electrical power quality and electromagnetic interference (EMI) requirements has been created to satisfy system quality and performance. One of the latest developments of machines under MEA themes is the energy efficient aircraft where electric power and heat management go hand to hand. Therefore, overall system performance improvement and more specifically, power density increase may be necessary for the new-generation hardware.
As can be seen, there is a need for a method and system to improve power generation in aircraft.